Narcolepsy Support Group
A sleep disorder (somnipathy) is a disorder in the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders can interfere with mental and emotional function. If you are having trouble falling asleep or having some other kind of sleep disturbance, this group is for you.
Soo guys, i've been a narcoleptic ever since I was 7 and got it from a head injury on the bus. Just recently though, i'd say about 3 years ago i've been able to remember sooo many dreams, last time I counted(about 1-2 months ago) I remembered 80 dreams from just 20 mins of thinking. With all the dreams i've had since then I'd say it's around 120(from just thinking about this year). Currently i'm 17 and have realized that I have been able to control most of my dreams. Of course this is no suprise though to all my other narcoleptics out there since some research I read has stated that this is common for narcoleptics, but that's not why i'm here. I encountered my first OBE 2 years ago and ever since have been able to control whether I wanted to experience one again. My control over my dreams has become so strong to the point that I have been able to experience false awakenings. When have these false awakenings though is also when I choose to. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but last time I went to get checked the neurologist said that i'm able to fall asleep within seconds, something that's super rare even for narcoleptics. This has started about 2 weeks ago. When I have my false awakening I am always aware that i'm dreaming. In fact the only way for me to control my dream is by making it before i'm sleeping, that is, when i'm in a sleep state but not actually dreaming. For some reason i'm not able to control my dreams if i'm already in a dream I didn't create even when i'm aware i'm dreaming. So basically when I go to sleep without the intentions of making a dream. Also, something realllllly odd that's been happening with me is that i've found that i'm able to activate my cataplexy intentionally before I go to sleep. I came across this accidently. Whenever my cataplexy would activate unintentionally I always go into paralization if no one is there to talk to me. This would then lead to hallucinations. Somehow i've been able to activate it before I go to sleep and instead of hallucinating it's giving me more control over my dreams. Of course though i'm not able to control it 100% and still have cataplexy attacks when I truely don't want to. However I do feel it's possible to control over time and with practice, even though you feel like gravity just increased a shit ton when it activates. I'm telling you guys this because I was wondering if anyone out there has experienced the same and able to do the same thing. Another thing to note is that the med that I take is Vyvanse and over time of using it, I have developed severe twitching, but for some odd reason i've been twitching like hell when my cataplexy activates. I can only control it to an extent and usually only when I purposly activate it before I go to sleep. Sometimes it will get so bad i'll just sit there twitching like crazy for a good 5-10 mins then start hallucinating and eventually fall asleep.
False awakenings is something I experience frequently. Sometimes I've had nights where I "wake up" endlessly. When paired with a hallucination/nightmare this is honestly the worst!
You said you were 17 and that's the age I was when I noticed stuff like this (a little later actually).
I want to share something that might effect you. When I was 18 I went off to college and started smoking weed. I immediately noticed better sleep - at first!! - but it didn't last and only served to increase weat time grogginess in the end and more made me reliant on the herb. It took me years to break away from it only to realize I had by solved any of my sleep problems - cataplexy and hallucinations and dreaming came back with avengance. So be wary of this is my only advice.
I also messed around with lucid dreaming - that's what you're talking about by the way when you say you control the dreams - in the end I found that this was cool at first but did not solve any of my narcolepsy related issues. On another note, marijuana will also suppress the ability to do this and remember dreams. But, like I said previously this is no long term solution - and something that I don't personally recommend from my own experience.
On to cataplexy - I have noticed onset of cataplexy before when falling asleep and waking - personally I can't really control it so have no advice for you there.
But while awake I have coping mechanisms for cataplexy - normally when standing in a group chatting with friends or whatever I lock my knees out for the duration of the conversation and dog my toes down in to the front of my shoes - this is to prevent falling over if cataplexy occurs. Also, as my cataplexy is usually triggered by laughter, I try to pre-empt spontaneous laughter by making myself laugh early or laugh in a big over the top way "HAHAHA"! - it seems natural but is controlled and can avoid spontaneous uncontrolled laughter which triggers cataplexy.
Good luck bro. You've got this